Belt shifter



April 27 1926. I V1,582,731 J. a CHA@ BELT SHIFTER Filed June 30, ).925

n .l n ,.llililI-v V wxTNEssEs INVENTOR 4 Tp-:Les '5. Y

ma ATroRNYs Patented Apr. 27, 1926,

STAT E PAT E NT Y 0F F IC E JAMES BROWNELLLCHACE, or Tlv-Enron; RHQDE ISLAND.

f BELT SHIFTER.

Application filed June 30, 1925. Serial No. 40,592.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES B. CHAGE, a, citizen of the United States, and a resident of- Tiverton, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, have made certain new and'useful Improvements in Belt Shifters, of which the following is a specifica.- tion. o 4

My invention relates to improvements 1n belt. Shifters anditconsists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimedf. l Y

rin object of the invention is the pro,-v vision of a. belt shifter whichaords fafcilities for shifting a belt froma fastv pulley toa loose pulley, and viceversa, when desired, and lfor preventing accidental displacement of the belt from position on either of said pulleys.

A further object of the invention is the provision of abelt shifter of the character described-having means adjustableto shift a belt` laterallyfbetween adjacent p-ulleys and locking means for retaining the. belt shifting meansin vany o-ne of` a plurality of differentV adj ustinents.

A still further object of the invention is` the provision of a'belt shifter which isy easy to. operate, reliable in use and thoroughly practical commercially.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, considered@v inv conjunction with the accompanying, drawings,in which Figure 1 is a` perspective view of" the iniproved belt shifter in adesirable` position with respect to a fast pulley and a loose pulley on a shaft Y Figurev),v is a fragmentary` perspective view of the supporting and guiding structure for the belt shifting meansof thevzde-f vice, and.'Y ,l y

Figure 3 is a fragmentaryv perspective view of certain of the elementsof thefbelt shiftiugmeans of the device, `showing a portion of a. belt in position between a pair. of belt engaging., yInernbers whichv areN com-1 prisediu the belt shiftingmeans]ofthe.;deil vice.

The supporting struct-ure of. thel improved belt shifter may compriseaV` bracket,having:`

en attachingportion.1 .and a supporting portion 25 which extends; substantially at right sangles: tothe attachingportion15Vf The` latteris aperturedjfor; the.,receptiorii` of; fas@ te'ningv devices, such as the cap bolts 3, for securing the attaching portion 1 flatwise against a support l. lVhen the device is used as illustrated in Fig. 1, the support 4 is horizontal and may be a, floor. The supporting portion 2 of the .bracket is upstanding from the attaching port-ion 1 adjacent to the peripheries of a fast pulley 5 and a loose pulley 6 which are disposed in sideby siderelation on a horizontal shaft 7, the fast] pulley being; secured to the shaft in any suitable known manner, as by means of a. key 8. i A belt9fis adapted to'beVY shifted from position to pass. about the fast pulley 5, as shown inFig. 1, to position to pass about thefloose pulley 6, and vice versa.` v

The supporting portion 2 of the bracket carries a horizontal guide. casing. which may comprise a body portion 10 which is integrall with .tlie. supportingV portion 2 of the bracket,l at t-heup-pper vendl of the latter, and a. cover portion 11 which may be secured tothe bodylOvv of the guide casing by screws 12. or liker fastening devices. The body 10 of theguide casing extends substantially at right' angles. to the direction of length of the supporting portion2 and is formed with a channel 13 inits upper side extending longitudinally of the body 10 of the guide casing.V The channel 10 constitutesy a guideway in which ashifter block or bar 14E may slide. A pin'1`5 extends from the middle portion of the slide block 14: thro-ugh a slot 16 in the side-of the guide casing which is remote from Vthe belt 9. The pin 15 extends loosely through an opening17 in an operating lever-18'. Awasher 19 is retained on the endportion of the pin 15 against the lever 1tlby a Cotter pin 2O or. like re=tainingde vice;

Tghe, opening 17 is formed in the middle portionzof the lever 18`which is fulcrumed (o ppositezenfdf portions .I of said"` block. .through ajislot.-2gl-.whichis formedgin .thesideffof .the saldecasiaeW-llelz-isf nrQXi-mte tethebelt" stein 9, The slots 16 and 21- theretore are in opposite sides or" the guide casing and each is ot suiiicient length to permit movement of the parts which extend therethrough from the block 1st as the latter is shifted longitudinally otl the guideway 13. The rods 23 extend at opposite sides of the belt 9 and a1-ry rollers 25 which are supported adjacent to the opposite edges of the belt 9. The rollers are prevented from moving axially inwardly on the rods 23 for any appreciable distance by washers 26 which space the mner ends ot the rollers from the adjacent wall of the guide casing. The rollers 25 may be prevented from sliding outward on the rods 23 by collars 27 which are secured on the extreme end portions oir the rods 23. I

The cover portion 11 of the guide casing is toi-med with an upstandinglug or abut* ment 23 thereon intermediate the ends thereof and adjacent to the edge of the cover 11 which is next to the lever 18. A latch bolt 29 is retained by a guidel clip 30 against the lever 18 in position to slide on the lever 18 to and from position to rest at its lower end on the cover of the guide casing at either of the opposite ends ot lug` or abutment 28 and in contact with the adjacent end ot the lug 28. The clip 30 is a channel shaped member, having laterally extending` marginal attaching portions 31 secured tlatwise against the lever 18 by screws 32. An expansion spring 3 is coiled about an axial extension or stem 311 at the upper end of the latch belt between the upper end of the. latch bolt and an auxiliary guiding and retaining clip 35 having an opening' through which the stein 3l extends slidably. The clip 35 may have an attaching portion 36 extending 'through an opening in the lever 18 and threadedly engaged by a nut 37. A pair of horizontally spaced earsas at 38, are formed on the lever 18 above the guide clip 35. A horizontal pivot element 39, which is carried by these ears. constitutes a ful-Crum for a bell crank lever for operating the latch bolt 29 against the action of the spring 33. The bell crank lever 10 thus is swingingly supported between the ears 38 and has a relatively short arm el() which is connected by a link 41 with Ihe upper end ot' the latch bolt The bell crank lever also includes o'er arm l2 which extends in a. generally direction relatively close to the upper end portion 43 ot the lever 18. The arm 1 -2 of the bell crank lever and the upper end portion i3 ot the lever 18 are adapted to be gripped in the hand of an operator so that the arm 42 ot the bell crank will be swung toward the plane of the lever 18 and the latch bolt 29 will be raised-against the action ot the spring 33 until the lowerend ot' the latch bolt is at a level slightly higher than that of the abutment 28. The lever 18 than be Saunaatfeiitthe et its tuleruming member 21 and the block 14 will be shifted in'the guideivay 13. This shifting ot the block 141- will cause shitting of the belt engaging members 23-25 and the belt thus may be shifted from position to engage with the tast pulley 5 to position to engage with the loose pulley G, and vice versa. TWhen the lever 18 is at one end of its throw, the belt 9 will passabout the fast pulley 5 and the latch bolt will be moved to position to bear at its lower end on the guide casing at one end of abutment 28 when the arm 12 ot the bell crank has been released to permit the spring 33 to act to torce the latch bolt 29 downward. l'V lien the lever 18r is at the opposite end of its stroke, the belt 9 will be in position to pass about the loose pulley G and the latch bolt 29 will be in position to bear against the guide casing at the opposite end ot the abutment when said latch bolt has been actuated by the spring 33. The latch bolt and the abutment therefore will cooperate to prevent accidental shitting ol? the ,le-ver 18 from position at either end of its throw and the belt thus will beIk held against accidental lateral displacement from position on either one oit the two adjacent pulleys between which it can be shifted by the improved belt shifter when the latter has been actuated manually.

The device is easy to install and operate, strong and durable, and not likely to get out oi order easily. e

Obviously` the invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other than that which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and I therefore consider as my own all such Mlodications and adaptations thereof as fairly tall within thev scope of the appended claims. l

l. claim rk 1. A belt shifter comprising a supporting structure, a lever fulcrumed on said supporting structure, belt shift-ing means movable with said lever or engaging a belt to shift said belt from one pulley to an adiacent pulley, an abutment on said supportmg structure, a spring pressed latch bolt carried by said lever 'for cooperating with said abutment to lock said lever to said supporting structure at opposite en'ds of the throw of said lever, and a latch bolt operatating lever carried by said tirst named lever in position to be gripped by the saine hand that holds said first named lever and then actuated to shift said latch bolt to posit-ion to disengage said abutment to permit the throw of said first named lever.

' 2. A belt shifter comprising a supporting structure, a lever ulcrumed on said supportl ing structure, belt shitting means movable with said lever :tor engaging a belt to shift said belt from one pulley to an adjacent pulley, an abutment on said supporting struc-V ture? a Spring' pressed latclr'bolt carried by Li l.)

ried by said lirst named lever and operable to shi-tt said latch bolt to position to disengag'e said abutment to permit the throw said iirst named lever, said first named lever and said latch bolt operating. lever having adjacent handle portions adapted to be gripped in the hand of an operator to eiiect actuation of said lever 'for operating said latch bolt.

3. A belt shifter con'iprising a bracketcomprising an elongated supporting member having an attaching portion adapted to be secured to a support, a `guide casing carried by the supporting member of said bracket, said guide casing having a longitudinal guideway and being formed with longitudinally extendinglateral slots in its side walls, a slide block movablealong said guideway, a pair of spaced beltfengaging members extending from said block through one oi' said lateral slots at opposite sides of a belt, a pin extending from said block through the op posite lateral slot of said guide casing, and an operating lever :tulcrumed on said bracket below said guide casing and having a transverse opening through which said pin extends, whereby the throw of said lever will cause shittin' ot said block along said guideway and corresponding lateral movement of the belt engaging members along the slotthrough which said belt engaging members extend.

il. A beltP shifter comprising a bracket, a guide casing carried by said bracket, said guide casing having a longitudinal guideway and being formed with longitudinally extending lateral slots in its side walls, a slide block movable along said guideway, a pair ot spaced belt engaging members eX- tending fromsaid block through one of saidv lateral slots at opposite sides of a belt, a pin extending from said block through the opposite lateral slot of said guide casing, an operating lever'tulcrumed on said bracket below lsaid guide casing and having a transverse opening through which said pin eX- tcnds, whereby the thro-w ot said lever will cause shifting ot'y said'block along said guideway and corresponding lateral movement of the belt engaging members along the slot through which said belt engaging vmembers extend, said belt engaging members carrying rollers adapted to have rolling contact with the side edges of' said belt.

Y 5. A belt shifter comp 1ising al bracket comprising an upright supporting member having an attaching portion at its lower end, a guide casing carried by the upright supporting member o't said bracket, said guide casing having a longitudinal guideway and being formed with longitudinally extending lateral slots in its side walls, a slide block movable along said guideway, a pair of spaced belt engaging members extending from said block through one of said lateral slots at opposite sides of a belt, pin extending `from said block through the opposite lateral slots of said guide casing, and an operating lever ulcrumed on said bracket below said guide casing and havingV a transverse opening through which said pin extends, whereby the throw of said lever will cause shifting of said block along said guideway and Vcorresponding lateral movement oft the belt engaging members along the slot through which said belt engaging members extend, an abutment on said guide casing, anda spring pressed latch bolt carried by said lever and adapted to bear against said guide casing at opposite ends of said abutment when the lever is at opposite ends Vof its throw.

JAMES BROVVNELL CHACE. 

